- (Or ladies, sometimes, but everyone knows that’s a bit funny)
A girl is a wisp, a potato chip
barely there, a girl drifts
by the side of the road until you show up
then she’s happy to do whatever you want
more than that: she’s waiting
for the opportunity, any time, any place
she’s a good-time girl
(your good time that means)
and when with you, the others don’t exist.
You don’t have to love a girl although
you can pretend to if it gets you off
since that’s the most important thing, always
and you can pretend so well
you believe it; you can
do whatever with whoever but the girl
only does it with you, this is true
even when it’s obviously not true
see above re pretending; you
don’t need to sell this fantasy to the girl
she’s already been sold it
and is ready to reflect it back to you
(which doesn’t mean she’s bought it
or it could men she has, too). Cash
or cash equivalents are involved
but you can pretend she’d do it for free
if she could (you even say that
and she smiles and laughs
so you know it’s true)
“You like that don’t you,” you
do not need to put a question mark
on that. A girl always says yes
or smiles and laughs, which is the same
as a yes, or squirms and looks like she
doesn’t want to be there; that
just means she’s shy (bonus for
you!) and is a yes too. A girl is
younger than you no matter what age she is
although obviously it’s better
if she’s actually younger. You
are the boss even as you like to
tell her she is (many of you
preferred it that way); tell her about how
empowering all this is for her
she loves it. A girl has no vital
functions you need to know about.
She’s a roadside attraction with heart-shaped
shades that reflect your image
sucking on a red lollipop or awkward
urchin type with acne and hand-me-downs
plain, tattered, or refreshingly
unadorned, yeah. A girl
naturally just is whatever you want
her to be; amazing, right? Even when
she’s not, for those who like
a bit of a challenge, or the troubled
ones, the ones who need
rescuing (to all the Captain Save-a-Hoes)
or the ones who won’t be rescued
the hopeless cases
they’re so romantic, dead
by the side of the road
you can faux mourn them.
Rose Hunter is a sex industry survivor who went on to become a writer and editor. Her latest book, Body Shell Girl (Spinifex Press, 2022), tells the story of the first two years (of ten) that she spent in the sex industry in Canada. About the book, Simone Watson writes: “Shimmering, relentless and candid. You didn’t expect to find yourself here and neither did she; the author takes you deftly through hell with an unexpected tenderness.”
Rose is also the author of various other books of poetry, including Glass (Five Islands Press, 2017), and she has been published widely in literary journals and magazines in Australia, the USA, and Canada. She is currently enrolled in a PhD in Creative Writing at Griffith University. Rose was born in Australia and lived in Canada for ten years, then Mexico for ten more, and now lives in Brisbane/Meanjin.